True Hope
by Traitor of All Traitors
Summary: The recreation of a new universe should never have to replace the one you currently reside in, no matter what the reasons are for it. What if a being that is above most others had intervened and undid the changes that occurred? What if a cop with a gauntlet with a mind of its own was still a cop? What if the talismans of power were reduced to less than a handful? Find out how.


Creation began on 02-23-12

Creation ended on 08-26-14

Witchblade

True Hope

A/N: I've been looking at information about what happens in _Artifacts_, and I'm not impressed with what I've read of how much of it ends, even if I like the _Witchblade _franchise a lot. I can't even find the good books because _Borders_ is no longer around. Okay, here's goes a familiar restoration with a few changes.

_Who could perform such choices and expect to get away with them?_ The ancient servant, to the worlds without beginnings and endings, thought as he became aware of a shift in the balance of existence and free will. _The Curator__… The Survivor… The Thirteen Artifacts. Separately, they only guide the universe that they dwell within…but when united, they can spell disaster to their wielders and the people around them._

Rising from his throne, he summoned an ancient scroll that held the symbols and depictions of most of the Thirteen Artifacts, deciding that, while many of them had their place in history and legend, some were just too dangerous to be ignored, and they needed to be collected for the purpose of safekeeping, just like the thousands of other relics he'd acquired over his unending lifetime.

"This was never meant to be," he sighed, disappearing in front of a display case occupied by twelve, small stone tablets with an individual animal associated to the Chinese Zodiac.

-x-

The universe fading all around them as Hope Pezzini died in front of her eyes was enough to shatter Sara beyond even the Witchblade's ability to mend. As the darkness consumed her perception, she felt the drowsiness of sleep settling in.

"Sara…" A voice called out to her from beyond the boundaries of her existence. "Sara… Sara… WAKE UP!"

GASP! The wielder of the Witchblade awoke to find, much to her woe, herself in her and Gleason's apartment, with Gleason waking up beside her.

"Sara?" Gleason expressed. "Oh, God. What happened?"

She got out of bed and walked into the kitchen, and was unprepared for what was in there.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead," the voice of Julie Pezzini was heard, as she was setting breakfast on the table and about to feed Hope.

"Huh? Julie?" Sara responded, confused; her sister was found dead by a gunshot wound to her head and the killer was Aphrodite IV, who had kidnapped Hope for the Curator/Survivor.

"Gah!" Hope gurgled, mashed bananas spilling out her mouth.

"I wake up this morning after having the most unusual dream," Julie told her sister. "I was taking Hope to a carnival and then the next thing I know, a clown knocks me out and I wind up in the company of a guy I've never met before, and he tells me that it wasn't my time just yet. Instructs me to enjoy my life. How weird is that?"

DING-DONG! The doorbell rung and Gleason, who had gotten out of bed, had answered it, but found nobody out in the hall…but a letter stuck to the door.

"Hmm?" He became concerned when he saw that it was addressed to Sara. "Sara, you got a letter from somebody. It's an unknown."

Sara accepted the letter from him and read a small note: _"Come to the Rialto Theater where it all began for you. Everything will be explained. B.C."_

"Who's B.C.?" Julie asked her.

"I have no idea," she answered, but whoever they were, they seemed to know at least where it was that she encountered the Witchblade.

-x-

The sight of the theater brought back many painful memories for Sara, since her first partner died there before the Witchblade chose her as its wielder. Stepping inside and going down toward the stage, she felt the gauntlet acting up and wondered why.

"Sara?" She saw Danielle and Finch, showing up from behind the curtains. "Is it really you?"

"Dani? You remember what happened?" Sara asked her.

"I remember vanishing, but then…nothing for a while. I dreamt I was a detective like my mother, but then a stranger came to me and said that I had to come here." Dani revealed, and then they took notice of a man stepping out of the shadows behind Sara, dressed in a suit.

"Jackie?" They reacted to the current wielder of the Darkness.

"Did you chicks get an invite by a man that said to come here, too?" He asked them.

"Yeah," went Sara. "I haven't seen him myself, but do you know who he is?"

"Un-uh. I met up with Finnegan, who was confused about why he didn't have the Glacier Stone with him when he woke up remembering everything that happened to us, just as left out with details as we are right now."

"I don't know if I met a demon or an angel in my dream prior to waking up," they heard the Magdalena, Patience, arrive, wielding the Spear of Destiny, "but he told me to come here so that I could understand what has happened."

"He told me that he wasn't happy with the events that were being played out," came Abigail, wielder of half the Heart Stone, as she had arrived with Patience. "Whoever this guy is that wanted us here, it doesn't seem like he was ever involved with what that Curator was after."

"Is this everyone?" Sara asked, wondering if any of the other wielders of the Thirteen Artifacts were going to show up.

"Yes," they all heard the same voice. "It is only you I needed to speak with, the wielders of the Witchblade, the Angelus, the Darkness, the Spear of Destiny and the Heart Stone."

"Right there," Jackie pointed over toward some chairs, occupied by a young, black man, dressed in the attire of a Tibetan monk, but had armor around his shoulders and chest.

"That's the guy I saw," Abigail revealed.

Patience brandished her spear at him and demanded, "Are you an angel or demon?"

Un-threatened by the Magdalena, the young man raised his right arm and announced, "I am both…and neither, servant of Christ."

"Are you B.C.?" Sara asked him as he got up.

"B.C., the initials to my designation: Brother Correction, who acts out for the sake of others being dealt with by the mistakes of a greater danger. You can ask me how and why for everything that has happened and almost did happen now."

Sara spoke up again first, asking, "Did we fail? Has everything changed?"

He looked at her and answered, "Yes. You did fail…but nothing has changed. I couldn't let the universe be destroyed or rewritten, just so that a surviving person from his own, lost world could return to it at the expense of so many lives being altered by talismans that have guided it towards great outcomes, even outcomes that aren't as positive as they should be."

"Are you…some sort of wielder of a talisman not associated with any ours?" Danielle asked him.

"No. I don't wield any objects. However, to ensure that people are never hurt by those with dark intentions, I do take certain talismans that would cause the most harm if left in the possession of black-hearted individuals. Though…I couldn't be sure about your friend, Mr. Finnegan, so I needed your decision on whether or not he should still keep the Glacier Stone." Brother Correction then held up said talisman, but also revealing that he possessed the Ember Stone, the Blood Sword and the Coin of Solomon on his person within the robes.

"Are those the ones you're taking because they do the most harm if left in the hands of the black-hearted?" Jackie asked him.

"Yes," he answered.

"Will you take the Darkness?"

"No. I will not disrupt the balance between the Trinity. They keep in line all that exists now. These talismans on me are the ones that can be found if sought after hard enough and will be taken to avoid a repeat of what had almost happened had I not intervened. Without all thirteen, this universe will not end and begin anew for generations to come. The Rupture and the Wheel of Shadows are in Hell along with Tom Judge, who retains the Rupture, as it is now his duty to help the good people get out of Hell. Pandora's Box, I have placed that in the last place people would actually think to look, and as for the wielder of the Thirteenth Artifact, Ji Xi… He's found balance in the harmony of his fellow brothers once more, helping him control the talisman and keep it out of the wrong hands. I had asked him if he wanted to get rid of it without it falling into cruel hands, but he kindly turned me down. All I need to know about the Glacier Stone is this: Give it back to Mr. Finnegan…or not?"

Jackie held out his hand and expressed, "He was our ally in the hopes that we could prevent the end from happening. And he was in good control of the stone. I'll give it back to him…if he wants it."

Brother Correction nodded and placed the stone in his hands.

"It misses him, anyway," he told them.

"Say, whatever happened to the Curator? I mean, the Survivor? I mean, uh, that creep?" Abigail asked.

"I dealt with him…by answering his deepest desire," Brother Correction stated. "I returned him to his universe…in exchange for his brother, Tau'ma, who must now answer for his own misdeeds."

"Tau'ma? The guy with the cane and can pull Darklings out of his head?" Sara asked.

"Yes."

"Just…what happens now?" Patience asked.

"You go on about yourselves. The deaths that occurred during the gathering of your talismans have been undone. Try to stay out of trouble, though. Heh, that Aphrodite IV…she almost had me convinced that she was still good, but I saw the great horror behind her face: Her soul, the one thing that associates me to countless lives, had disappeared from her body long ago. There was nothing left…except for instructions, directions and programming, like any regular computer or another piece of machinery. She could not be revived."

"Good riddance," went Danielle. "She looked crazy enough."

"What about my daughter?" Sara asked him. "I mean…"

"Hope has got her whole life ahead of her, no longer subject to anything that would be seen as a supernatural phenomenon. No unknown gifts…no dangerous curses… Just a regular little girl…with a detective for a mom."

Hearing that reminded Sara that, due to a diary of Jake McCarthy's, she had to resign as a cop, and hearing this had to have meant that she hadn't resigned because of this man's interference in saving their universe.

"You don't seem to be human," went Finch to Brother Correction, "and you say you're both an angel and a demon…and neither at the same time. So, just what are you, anyway?"

Brother Correction then, to their surprise, levitated up into the air, a portal of a vast cosmos or abstract artwork materializing above them.

"I have been many things in my eternity of correcting mistakes made by others," he explained, "and going through variable lengths to ensure that such mistakes aren't ever attempted again. But I live by my sole rule, my one factor in helping those that can no longer help themselves do the right thing: Restore the innocent, punish the guilty…and give new beginnings to those that deserve them. I am unbound by all forms of law and order, immune to chaos and destruction, an explorer and observer of actions that lead to the worse outcomes if the possibility of change for the better is not within sight. Justice, salvation and redemption in all its further regions of existence. I have been known as a tormentor to the guilty, a savior to the innocent…and a teacher to those in between the line to push them down the right path."

"So…you're, like what, exactly, an inter-dimensional deity of justice tasked with fixing the problems that people can't fix by themselves because of their flaws or reluctance…or inability or unwillingness to change or see alternatives?" Jackie asked.

Brother Correction looked down at him and chuckled.

"Yeah, something like that," he responded, sending the Blood Sword, Ember Stone and Coin of Solomon through the portal, which then sealed up. "The one thing I can never be is perfect. There is no such thing as perfection. No one and nothing, not even the Thirteen Artifacts themselves, is perfect. It is better to show flaws…and to know that you're flawed."

"Like what the Darkness does?" Jackie asked him.

"Only when allowed to run wild. To run wild, free of morale, not even obeying certain rules or mortal laws, can often be detrimental…but to have influence because of restrictions, to obey the laws of mortality…teaches morale, forces you to learn from your mistakes… That being what the Angelus was forced to accept when her previous host was killed…or should I say her slave, to correct myself. No more being controlled by ancient forces."

"Is that…part of the reason to why the Angelus picked me as her new host?" Dani asked.

"Yes…and no," he told her. "While they remain ancient and eternal opposing forces, the Angelus and the Darkness both possess an understanding of the difference in the way that they attach themselves to people: The Darkness is bound to a chosen bloodline, unable to attach itself to any other bloodline unless the current one ends…while the Angelus can take any woman it wishes, but came to realize that, simply because she wanted to kill her opposite, her negative, against all odds and rules, she went through her chosen candidates like a person goes through toilet paper after using the bathroom, and that had to stop. Angelus even understood the Darkness' loophole when it possessed Jackie to do what he did without knowing until much later, the end result being Hope Pezzini."

"Ugh," they all heard Jackie shudder; he seemed to hate being reminded of his possession.

"Sorry. At least know that that can't happen again. Not with you, anyway. The flaw to that loophole is that it can only be used once per host."

"Once per host?" Jackie spoke up.

"It's a generation-based trait, meant to be used only for special circumstances. The Darkness thought it could tip the balance between itself and the Angelus, but that wasn't meant to be. Everything must have balance. Where there is light, you must also have darkness. Good and bad, moral and immoral."

It seemed as though the wielders didn't have anything else to say.

"Thank you," Patience uttered.

"Yeah," went Dani right after. "Thank you."

"Just correcting wrongs…because I care for the good people…even if some of them have behaviors that mark them as being antiheroes of sorts." He told them, making it clear that when he said 'antihero', he meant Jackie.

-x-

_"The Angelus is now learning from her mistakes, not going through women like they're replaceable…and accepting that mortal law must be obeyed…and not to take one's free will from them." _Dani recalled Brother Correction's words on her artifact prior to returning back home.

If this was true, then she could look forward to the rest of her life not being subjected to the Angelus' control and dominance. She…she could even have a nice future with Finch if possible.

"Hey, Finch?" She asked her lover.

"Yes?" Finch responded as they entered their apartment.

"Since… Well, since we know that the universe's destruction and recreation were undone by Brother Correction…and that the Angelus won't try to possess me at all…and I'm comfortable with our relationship… Do you want to get married some day next year?"

"Yes," Finch answered her, smiling. "Yes, Dani. I would love that."

-x-

_"A young woman named Jenny spoke to me about you, Mr. Estacado," _Brother Correction's words repeated in Jackie's mind as he returned to his hideout prior to the events that nearly destroyed the universe he knew and everything and everyone in it. _"She told me to tell you that you're still a good guy…and that it's not too late for you turn your current life around, even with the Darkness being a very negative add-on. I had offered her, as I had offered other people that were victims of particular talismans, the chance to be revived so that she could live out the rest of her life as a living person, but she kindly turned me down."_

"_Why would she do that?"_ Jackie asked him when he found out.

"_She felt at peace in the afterlife, and she watches over you. While not impressed with most of your achievements, due to your preferences in lifestyle, she always had hope that someday, you would change for the better because of how you could use the Darkness. You've not forgotten what you thought you could do with it, have you?"_

"_I thought I could use it for better things than for less nobler ends."_

"_Like what?"_

"_Like fighting crime."_

"_But other troubles made such a belief easier expressed than experienced. You have total control over the Darkness once more, Mr. Estacado, so why don't you try and experience that ideal firsthand? You can't stop crime, however; nobody can stop crime, for there will always be people that live with wants instead of needs, and will do whatever it takes, lie, cheat or kill, to get what they desire. But if you can't stop crime, what can you do about it?"_

"_Try to control it."_

"_Exactly. But there's a part of that ideal you should consider: No more senseless killing, even to those that deserve it. Murder tarnishes the soul, far beyond what one believes that the Darkness ever could. Murder begets only more murder…and there's been enough death caused by both unnatural and supernatural means."_

Sitting at a desk, thinking back to his childhood days at the orphanage with Jenny… Sometimes, he had to wonder if he could just will the cruelty of the Darkness away so that it couldn't hurt people any longer than it has in all history, ancient and current. He hated how it always seemed to be the dictator in his life, even before he was old enough to understand it as much as he did, that it was always going to get him into trouble so big that he couldn't walk away unscathed. Violence, bloodshed, guns, money, women, sex and a bunch of other desires, necessary or unnecessary, stemmed mostly from the hearts of former wielders of the Darkness, all amplified, and it enveloped his own lifestyle. Sometime ago, he had heard somewhere both light and dark were locked in conflict, and that it didn't matter which side of the line you were on; conflict, violence, war and so on beget only death and ruination, no matter which side you were on wanted to end the fighting more than the other.

And he also knew that most people that were often on the wrong side of the line, the dark side, often had a difficult time trying to turn away from the life they had on that side. He'd seen a few of them, a small few, that tried to turn away from the violence, to give up killing their enemies, to give up the desires of wealth, being feared and respected by many, the best of weapons and men to take what you wanted from whoever you wanted to take from, to be absolved of your sins and have a second chance at turning your life around… Or just a chance at turning your life around.

"_Give yourself a reprieve from the violence in your life,"_ Brother Correction told him. _"Violence begets only further bloodshed, regardless of which side of the line you're on. If you can walk away from murder, you can absolve your soul of some of the darkest of energies that dwell within, give yourself a second chance to live. Put the drive to murder in the past…and you'll find yourself on the path to being free from self-destruction."_

"_But wait, I have just one more question," _Jackie stopped him from disappearing just yet. _"It's about the Darkness still being in my possession. I… What I want to know is if…"_

"_If you can avoid another mishap, if you can even call what had occurred between you and your Darkness-derived lover, Elle," _Brother Correction had told him, cutting him off, _"you can still have a sex life within the boundaries of your power over the Darkness. You'd be, pretty much, on the down-low, but it'd still be no different from a period of celibacy. Or you can just have a vasectomy somewhere where secrecy and discretion is greatly appreciated."_

"_Thank you," _he told the man.

-x-

"…So, Sara," went Gleason to his lover and partner as he was giving Hope a bath, just as the Witchblade wielder had returned home, "what was with that note you got today?"

Sara looked at the Witchblade bracelet and then at her daughter.

"I just met someone that told me everything was going to be alright now," she explained. "You need a hand with her?"

"Gah!" Hope giggled, splashing water at her mother and surrogate father.

"Please," he chuckled.

-x-

Viewing the changes he had made from several spheres that floated around him as he put away the talismans he took from the dimension to prevent a repeat of what had occurred once already, Brother Correction smiled at Sara's continued use of the Witchblade to fight the crime, both natural and supernatural, plaguing the city, Jackie's attempts to abstain from killing and helping the people with the Darkness, and Dani and Finch's progressing relationship with each other while the consciousness of the Angelus remained in check. And as he placed the artifacts he took with him from the restored universe into displays in his domain, he took one last look at the Coin of Solomon before he threw it away into a chamber pot full of coins…and then placed the Blood Sword among the display of other swords that he had among his collection.

"Hey, let me out of here!" He heard the wretched voice of Tau'ma, suspended within a bubble of energy that he, even with his ability to summon Darklings, couldn't escape from. "Let me out! I have to get back to the Darkness! I live to serve the Darkness!"

"Well, we both know that that's not entirely true," Brother Correction told him, setting the Ember Stone around the incomplete neck structure of a model display, showing off the artifact as a form of jewelry. "It's nothing more than disorder, chaos, a loss of control and imbalance that you serve. You say you serve the Darkness, but you've never met Mr. Estacado. When you say that you serve the Darkness, you mean to say that you serve the Original incarnation of the Darkness, unbound by bloodlines or mortal flesh, before he agreed to a union and truce with the Angelus, resulting in the Witchblade. Wake up. The nightmare that was your causing trouble in the name of the Darkness has ended…and your nightmare, filled with that which you can't escape from…has only scarcely begun. Your trial is upon you, and I am your judge, jury…and condemner. I've looked through the charges, interviewed the witnesses, reached a verdict, and I find you guilty on all charges and sentence you to eternity within that sphere, filled with the nightmares of every man, woman and child that has ever lived or will ever live…until you grasp the depths of true insanity that renders one incapable of anything, especially hoping for relief. Once that happens, and once you understand how to hope for the right reasons…it is my hope that you will be absolved of your darkness…and return to the path of redemption."

Then, the sphere sunk into the ground beneath them, with Tau'ma screaming his lungs out that he needed to serve the Darkness…until the sphere was now underground, among some of the other dark souls he collected over time to protect the people.

An illusion within a ring of smoke manifested in front of him shortly afterwards, showing a happy scene that was enough to make Brother Correction shed a tear or two.

Within the ring of smoke, Sara Pezzini, along with her partner Gleason and her sister were enjoying a peaceful day at the amusement park on Coney Island with Hope. A clown showed up near them, carrying a large wad of balloons and gave one to Hope. It was a good day being experienced, enough to erase the bad one that needed to be forgotten.

"That's true hope right there," he told himself as the illusion disappeared, and he returned to his wooden throne. "A world with hope…is one of the worlds that's worth fighting for…and worth changing the fates of many for."

Fin

A/N: It took me over two years just to finish this story, and now I've found the time to finish it. I've read on the Internet what happens at the end of _Artifacts_ and wasn't impressed by the direction the writers were going in. Now that I've written this story, I can feel the satisfaction that comes with a change in the change of directions by putting it back on track. Yes…I feel the satisfaction now.


End file.
